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NATIONAL INSTANT CHECK SYSTEM KEEPS GUNS AWAY FROM MORE THAN 160,000 PROHIBITED PERSONS IN ITS FIRST YEAR

More Than 470,000 Sales Blocked Under 1993 Brady Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than 160,000 prohibited people have been prevented from purchasing a firearm under the Brady Law's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which went into effect one year ago today. NICS is the first national system for checking the backgrounds of prospective gun buyers.

Attorney General Janet Reno established NICS on November 30, 1998, under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Law). The Brady Law requires federal firearms licensees to request NICS background checks on individuals attempting to purchase a firearm.

Prior to NICS, state and local authorities conducted background checks under the interim provisions of the Brady Law, which were in effect from February 28, 1994 until November 30, 1998. The Justice Department estimates that under the interim Brady Law, 312,000 prohibited persons were denied access to firearms. Together with the NICS denials, the Brady Law has thus prevented more than 470,000 prohibited people from acquiring firearms since February 28, 1994.

"The system has proven to be highly effective, performing more than 8.7 million checks in its first 12 months," said Reno. "Keeping guns out of the wrong hands has been critical to the success of our strategy for reducing gun violence and protecting our communities. The Brady Law and NICS have contributed to the unprecedented 7 ½ year decline in crime in this country. We must continue to build on the Brady Law's successes by passing common-sense legislation to close the loopholes in our current gun laws."

Approximately half of the NICS checks were handled by the FBI (4.37 million) and half (4.34 million) were handled by states acting as points of contact (POCs) for the FBI. The inquiries handled by the FBI resulted in more than 80,000 denials of guns to criminals, fugitives, and others prohibited by law from possessing guns. Based on data from individual states, the FBI estimates that the state POCs also denied more than 80,000, for a total in excess of 160,000 denials.

Of the prospective gun buyers denied firearms by the FBI, 72% were known felons, 12% had been convicted of domestic violence, 4% were abusers of illegal drugs, 3% were subject to domestic violence restraining orders, and 3% were fugitives from justice.

More than 71% of checks handled by the FBI resulted in an immediate "proceed" determination to the firearms dealer, indicating that no records regarding the prospective buyer have been located by the NICS, and that the Brady Law does not prohibit transfer of the gun. (Once all relevant descriptive information is entered into the system, the average transaction is completed in less than 30 seconds.) The FBI's experience indicates that about 82% of the remaining checks are completed within two hours. This results in 95 percent of all NICS checks being completed within two hours. (71 out of every 100 people get an immediate "proceed," and 82% of the remaining 29 people, or 24 people, have their checks completed in 2 hours.)

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